DuPont won a lawsuit against Korean producer Kolon Industries

September 15/2011

(ICIS) -- US-based DuPont won a lawsuit on
Wednesday for USD 919.9m (EUR 671.5m) against Korean producer Kolon Industries,
which was accused of stealing trade secrets about the company's Kevlar aramid
fibre. A jury found that Kolon was liable for misappropriation of trade secrets,
and that its actions were willful and malicious, DuPont said.

"The size of this award is one of the largest in defence of business
processes and technologies," according to a statement by Thomas Sager, DuPont
general counsel.

In 2007, DuPont became concerned about Kolon's activities and notified
the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Department of Justice and the
Department of Commerce.

An FBI investigation revealed that in
August 2008, three Kolon managers had flown to Richmond, the site of DuPont's
Kevlar technology and business headquarters. According to the investigation, the
managers flew to Richmond to obtain confidential information about DuPont
process technology.Later, the federal government charged former DuPont
employee Michael Mitchell on a count of stealing trade secrets and a count of
obstructing justice. Soon afterwards, Mitchell agreed to plead guilty. He was
sentenced to 18 months in US federal prison.